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This week's Monday Night Raw was the celebration of 30 years for the red brand. The show began the first hour commercial-free, kicked off with a few production problems, but was also wildly entertaining and brought back moments of nostalgia while mixing them with the hottest stars in the company right now.Hulk Hogan kicked things off, but The Bloodline's trial of Sami Zayn took the first 30 minutes of the show. The action was fun, but things got serious when Brock Lesnar returned to close the show.Here are your winners and losers for Monday Night Raw, January 23, 2023:

Winner: Trial of Sami Zayn

The cheesy courtroom graphics aside, this segment was extremely well done. Paul Heyman started by trying to give Roman Reigns what he wanted, which was to make it look like Sami Zayn was a traitor. Zayn's feelings were badly hurt, so much so, he didn't even want to defend himself. When Roman was mad that Zayn wouldn't fight for his spot in the family, he instructed Solo Sikoa to take Sami out. It was Jey Uso, who stopped Solo from doing so, then showed a series of video clips to prove Sami was loyal.

The dramatic irony of Jey being the one to come to Sami's rescue really made this segment work. It also set up the following match, which was the Usos defending their Undisputed Tag Team Championships against Judgment Day. When Jimmy was hurt and couldn't continue, Sami took his spot. A great match continued with a number of clear falls and Al most moments where the titles changed hands. Ultimately, Sami came through and helped the Usos retain. Zayn survives another day and will be back at the Royal Rumble to try and pass his final test.

Winner: Undertaker and Bray Wyatt Too Much For LA Knight

Making a trip over from SmackDown, LA Knight was in the ring and calling out all the legends in the back. As he pumped his match at the Royal Rumble versus Bray Wyatt, he said no one had the guts in the locker room to come out and that if any legend did he would put them down. The Undertaker's music hit, which then shifted over to the American Badass theme, and The Deadman came out on his Harley Davidson motorcycle. A few bike issues aside, this was a nice nostalgic moment made only better when Bray Wyatt came out and worked with the Undertaker to get rid of LA Knight.

In a holy s--- moment, Taker whispered something to Wyatt, walked out of the ring, got back on his Harley, and rode away. This didn't do much to build the match between Wyatt and Knight at the Rumble, but it was a fascinating way to get the Undertaker involved. That it was the American Badass that showed up was a nice surprise.

Loser: No Actual Steel Cage Match

Becky Lynch was supposed to square off with Bayley in a Steel Cage Match, one that hasn't happened on Raw in the Women's Division in 19 years. But, WWE decided not to actually have the match, instead opting for Damage CTRL to attack Lynch before the match began and leave her laying.

This was an OK segment, but it was unfortunate that the match didn't go down considering the hype around it, and the fact that it's been so long since Steel Cage match has taken place. One has to assume that this belt will go down at a later date, and these two will meet in the Royal Rumble match itself.

Winner: DX Backs Down From Imperium

Degeneration X came out to the ring, but surprisingly with Kurt Angle walking behind. They started their traditional catchphrase script, stopping themselves when they realized it was Kurt with them and not Billy Gunn. As they were about to finish the catchphrase Imperium's music hit and the trio came down to admonish DX for ruining the tradition of the great sport of professional wrestling. w

When they challenged DX to stand up to them, every single one of the members of the childish group backed down. That led to Seth Rollins and The Street Profits coming out to fight Imperium in a six-man tag match -- which Teddy Long introduced and Rollins and The Profits eventually won.

This was a smart way to get DX involved in the action, but also avoid having legends who can no longer go make those who are the future of the industry look bad. In fact, DX played this perfectly, each backing down like retired cowards and letting the new stars of the WWE take their spot.

Winner/Loser: Ric Introduces Charlotte, Belair's Battles Deville

Ric Flair was up next to introduce his daughter, the SmackDown Women's Champion Charlotte Flair to the live crowd. Again WWE was smart to make sure that the Hall of Famer had a small part in the next segment, limiting his interaction on the show to a simple introduction. It was also smart to have Charlotte step aside so Bianca Belair, the Raw Women's Champion could fight Sonya Deville. A simple link between Charlotte and Belair helped showcase Charlotte as a babyface, which made it hard for the WWE Universe to cheer against her -- which might be the natural tendency since Charlotte has been a strong heel for so long.

Deville vs Belair took place after the commercial break. It was a solid contest that ran longer than most fans would have expected. Belair called out Alexa Bliss who appeared on the screen from her dressing room. Bliss warned that she didn't need any help taking out the champion and ripping her apart with her bare hands.

WWE aired another Cody Rhodes return video.

Winner: United States Championship Main Event

Lashley got control of this match early and as WWE went to a quick commercial break. Back-and-forth action felt a little rushed towards the end as the time limit on the show was winding down, but WWE found a way to fit in the biggest moment of the evening. Brock Lesnar returned and took out Bobby Lashley. He gave him an F5, then gave Theory and F5 (but on top of the fallen Lashley) which led to the victory for A-Town Down.

Theory retained and the announcers were left asking why Lesnar was taking aim at Lashley. And, is Lesnar in the Royal Rumble? If he's back prior to the event, that has to mean he's in it, right?

TheSportster Podcast has returned! Check out latest episodes of the show where Jim Parsons and Norman Quarrinton cover the latest news and events happening in the worlds of WWE, AEW and more!